


Sleeping son

by Xenobia



Series: The "Alliance" universe [3]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-17
Updated: 2012-09-17
Packaged: 2017-11-14 10:35:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/514326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xenobia/pseuds/Xenobia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reno's mother is dying from cancer. He's avoided consolation from his coworkers but Cloud persists in giving him comfort, despite his protests.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleeping son

“Sleeping son”

 

Inspired by Nightwish’s song “Sleeping Sun”, dedicated to my mother

~*********************************~

 

**_*Disclaimer:  The world that this story is set in and all characters therein belong to Square-Enix.  This fiction piece is strictly a non-profit exercise of creativity and entertainment for people (like me) who can’t get enough of this world and the characters.*_ **

~********************************~

 

 

            Cloud dodged and deflected flying bullets, gritting his teeth as he defended his charge.  He’d been tipped off by a not-so-anonymous caller that the Turks had plans for a budding young fighter in Edge and he’d gotten to the preteen’s house just before Rude and Elena showed up.  It seemed that Rufus was still up to the old trick of forcibly kidnapping candidates.  Evidently, his “redemption” interests didn’t stop him from trying to rebuild ShinRa and the military might it once boasted.

 

            “Stay down,” Cloud barked over his shoulder as the Turks began to gain ground.  The girl behind him nodded and ducked behind the pile of rubble he’d placed her behind.   A bullet meant to wound ricocheted off of Cloud’s sword and took the window of a nearby house out.  Thankfully, it was empty of occupants.

 

            “Don’t make me come up there!” Cloud shouted to his opponents, rapidly losing his temper.

 

            “Give the girl over, Strife,” Elena responded in a cocky tone. 

 

            “Fuck off, bitch!” Cloud answered.

 

            “D-did he just call me—“ Elena’s voice echoed through the wrecked sector.

 

             Cloud couldn’t be sure, but he swore he thought that he heard Rude snort with brief laughter.  “So do something about it,” the dark-skinned Turk said to the blonde girl.

 

            “Oh, I fucking will!” Elena shrieked.

 

            Cloud looked at the wide-eyed preteen he was protecting.  “Move back…get behind that house over there.”  He jerked his head to the right, suspecting what was to come. 

 

            Too frightened to argue, the girl whimpered and did as she was told as quickly as her shaking legs would allow.  The timing was fortunate, because a grenade hit the cracked pavement just behind Cloud and rolled toward the spot the girl had been hiding behind.  Cloud swore and rolled away.  He raised his left arm and stuck his middle finger out at the Turks as he avoided the blast.

 

            “Asshole!” Elena fumed, readying another grenade.

 

            “Chill,” Rude said as he grabbed her arm, halting her actions.  “This is a retrieval mission, remember?”

 

            Her pale blue eyes narrowed with frustration.  “Fine.  What are your suggestions, hot shot?  We weren’t expecting Strife to show up!”

 

            Rude contemplated, watching Cloud steadily herd the girl away from their grasp below.  He remembered his partner bragging about the night he’d spent with the blonde and an idea came to him.  If he was right and Cloud was as noble as he thought, they might have an edge…but not the sort of edge he was supposed to be shooting for right now.

 

            “Hey Strife,” he called after the retreating blonde. 

 

            Expecting the Turk to lob another grenade at him, Cloud instructed his charge to duck behind the rubble again as he turned around and looked up at the Turk, who stood with arrogant confidence on a ruined building. 

 

            “What now?” he shouted.

 

            _~Why the hell do I keep talking to these guys?  Did Reno…no, he wouldn’t do that~_

            Rude took the gamble.  “You’re not curious why Reno isn’t with us?”

 

            Cloud’s bright eyes wavered and the Turk knew he’d hit a mark.  The blonde didn’t respond but he could tell he was wondering.  “His mother’s dying in the hospital, man.”  Rude swallowed, hating himself for using his partner’s tragedy to get the package he’d promised to Rufus.  “If he was here,” he continued…or tried.  He felt like a big lump of shit and he squared his shoulders.  Straightening up, he finished: “He’d still kick your ass!”

 

            Cloud stared up at Rude even as Elena stared sidelong at the imposing, dark-skinned man.  Rude’s shoulders were tense and it looked like he was about to have a breakdown.  It suddenly occurred to Cloud that his heart wasn’t in this but he couldn’t be with his partner.  Elena was likewise contemplative, her features warring between hard anger and sympathy.

 

            “I’d like to see him try,” Cloud yelled, directing the girl he was protecting to move as he spoke.  In a lower voice, he said to her: “keep going south and you’ll hit sector six.  I’ve got friends there waiting and they’ll take care of you, okay?”

 

            The girl nodded convulsively and Cloud gave her a brief smile.  Turning back to Rude, he hollered, “I don’t have time for this.  Just bring it!”

 

            Rude obliged him, climbing down from the ruined building.  Elena attempted to block off the girl’s escape but Cloud deflected her bullets with his sword and left her swearing in frustration.  The would-be recruit slipped safely out of the sector as the two Turks made their approach on Cloud.

 

            “I’m getting fed up with this,” Cloud warned as the Turks advanced on him with their guns drawn.  “By the way, shouldn’t you be at least a little fucking concerned with your partner?”

 

            Rude wavered.  “He can handle it,” he said in a low voice.

 

            Cloud narrowed his eyes.  “Nobody can “handle” that.”

 

            Rude looked at the blonde through his dark sunglasses.  He lowered his weapon and sighed.  “He doesn’t want our help.”  He said it almost petulantly.

 

            Elena likewise lowered her weapon, looking from Rude to Cloud and back again.  She grimaced.  “Well, this is awkward.”

 

            “What room?” Cloud inquired, his blue eyes intent on them both.

 

            Rude and Elena looked at each other silently.

 

            “He won’t want company,” Rude said in a low voice.  “He already shooed us out earlier.”

 

            “What room?” Cloud asked again, still keeping his sword at ready.

 

            “352,” Elena finally said with a nod at Rude.

 

            Cloud kept his eyes on them as he freed his cell from his jacket pocket and hit the auto-dial.  The other end of the line picked up and he talked to the recipient. “Tifa…yeah, it’s me.  The girl’s going to be coming in from sector seven.  Be ready for anything.  I’ve got my eye on Rude and Elena.”

 

            Both of the Turks tensed as he shut the phone off and Cloud stared straight at where he imagined Rude’s eyes to be, behind his tailored dark glasses.  “Do you really wanna keep this up right now?” He asked in a level voice.

 

            Rude paused and sighed.  He holstered his gun and pulled his cellphone out.  Elena likewise holstered her weapon. 

 

            “We lost the package,” Rude said in his even, monotone voice.  “We’re in pursuit.”

 

            Cloud nodded once at both of them and walked away, heading to the sector entrance where Fenrir waited.  He had a trip to Junon to make.

 

~********************************~

 

            Reno helped the nurse pull his mother higher in the bed, wincing as she cried out in pain. 

 

            “Sorry Ma,” he said softly as he leaned over her skeletal form, “Is that any better?”

 

            “I don’t know,” she said faintly, “the pain…oh Reno…it hurts!”

 

            He took her wasted hand and held it carefully, knowing that the cancer spreading through her made her as fragile as fine glass.  “What can I do, Ma?”

 

            He’d never been a “good” son, at least, not as she would have wanted.  She loved him anyway and it showed when her milky eyes smiled up at him.  She squeezed his hand as tightly as her failing strength allowed. 

 

            “My boy,” she rasped, trying to reach up with her other wilted arm.  Her hair was streaked with auburn and silver, still retaining the family red a little, even through her sickness. 

 

            Reno swallowed.  “It’s okay, Ma.  I’m here.”

 

            “I’m…so sorry,” she whispered.

 

            “Cut it out,” he replied in an aching gasp.  “Just stop that!”

 

            He sensed a new presence in the room before he could turn around.  His emotions were making him slow.  Reno growled and reached for his bag, intending to electrocute the idiot that had dared to walk in and trouble him now.

 

            “Reno?”

 

            The redhead stopped, still holding his dying mother’s hand.  He knew that voice.  He turned his head away from the specter of  the woman that had once raised him and saw Cloud Strife, standing at the doorway to the private room.  The blonde’s sapphire blue eyes stared into his and he stood silently.

 

            “Hey, Blondie,” Reno was surprised at how grateful the nickname sounded on his own lips.  He swallowed hard and mentally slapped himself.  “What the hell are you doing here?”

 

            Cloud’s eyes didn’t waver.  “I just thought I’d check in.  I heard….and…I wanted to stop by.  I’ve got connections too, you know.” 

 

            _~Asshole!~_ Reno immediately thought, believing that Cloud’s motives were based on some smug interest in attacking him when he was vulnerable.  The blonde’s eyes, however, were nothing short of nakedly sympathetic.

 

            “You’re serious?” Reno blurted before he could stop himself.  He NEVER wanted any of his work associates to see him in such a vulnerable state, but as Cloud Strife crossed the room slowly he discovered that he didn’t really want to be alone.

 

            Cloud looked at the woman in the bed, seeing some resemblance to Reno in her features.  He nodded.

 

            “I’m serious.  I just wanted to pay my respects but if you really want me to go—“

 

            Reno’s arm suddenly shot out and his pale fingers clenched the leather of Cloud’s jacket sleeve.  “Wait…don’t…I mean, if ya really came here for…you can stay.”

 

            Cloud stopped his retreat and knelt down in front of Reno, who was sitting tensely in the chair beside his mother’s bed.  He looked into the conflicted green eyes and saw the pain hidden under the surface.

 

            “I’ll stay as long as you nee me to,” he whispered, trying not to disturb the dying woman a couple of feet away.

 

            Reno looked more vulnerable than Cloud had ever seen him before.  Those long green eyes were bright with unshed tears and the sensitive lips were pulled into a thin, tight line.  The ginger lashes fluttered as the redhead blinked. 

 

            “Thanks,” Reno said softly. 

 

Cloud wasn’t a work associate and at the moment, he wasn’t an enemy or even a potential fuck.  He was someone that had gone out of his way just to offer a shoulder, for no better reason than sympathy.  Reno sighed and scooted over as much as the flimsy guest chair would allow. 

 

            “You don’t have to make room—“ Cloud whispered.

 

            Reno’s mother gasped his name and he shot out of the chair and held her hand.  Cloud realized then that space on the chair didn’t matter.  He dropped his travel bags and sat down, silently watching the redhead that he’d thought to be so heartless fuss and worry over a mother Cloud never even knew he had.

 

            “Can I help?” The blonde said after listening to her tortured gasps and watching Reno’s hands tremble.

 

            “No,” Reno said with an odd note of pain, “not really.  At least, you can’t help her.”  His sea-green eyes were bright but free of tears as he looked up from his mother to Cloud.  “You really wanna stay for this, Strife?”

 

            _~His mother’s dying and he acts like it’s some kind of chore to be here for him.  Why’d he push his closest friends away if he’s willing to let a one-night stand sit here?  Hell, we’re even enemies most of the time.  I don’t get it!~_

            Deciding that honesty was the best policy, Cloud nodded.  “I thought you might need some company.  There’s a vending machine down the hall if you want something to drink or eat.”

 

            Reno sighed at him.  “Man, you’re too fucking nice—“

 

            His mother’s gasping breaths interrupted his would-be comment.  The women convulsed on the bed, her eyes wild and staring as she called out for Reno.  The Turk held her hand and looked around with half-panicked eyes.  Cloud got out of his chair and rushed out of the room to the nurse station for help.

 

            On his way out, Cloud heard Reno murmuring: “I’m here, Ma.  It’s okay.” 

 

            His throat burned with sympathy as he shouted for help.

 

~***************************************~

 

            They got Reno’s mother stabilized and sedated.  There was nowhere else for both men to sit, so Cloud reclined the visitor’s chair and Reno ended up on his lap.  Cloud was amazed by how easily and trustingly the Turk rested on him, considering that he wouldn’t even allow his best friends to stay in the room.

 

            “Reno,” he whispered some time in the night.  The Turk’s vivid hair tickled his chin.. 

 

            Reno mumbled in a half-asleep stupor and shifted in Cloud’s lap.  “Mmm?” he hummed, pressing his face against Cloud’s jaw.

 

            “Why did you let me come here, instead of any of the others?” Cloud murmured, his blue eyes shifting to the sedated woman on the bed.

 

            Reno shrugged against him.  “I can be a puss with you, yo,” he mumbled sleepily.

 

            “A…puss?”  Cloud chuckled.  “What does that mean?”

 

            Reno tilted his head back and looked Cloud in the eye, his expression serious for a change.

 

            “Means I can be fucking human, Strife.  You don’t have problems with that.”

 

            Cloud stared down at him, feeling an ache of sympathy.  “No, I guess I don’t,” he whispered, and he lowered his mouth and kissed him lightly.

 

            At that same moment, the electric heart monitor hooked up to Reno’s mother flat-lined.  They both heard it at the same time and they struggled out of the chair. 

 

            “Ma,” Reno said in an adrenaline-rushed cry.  He patted his mother’s flaccid, pale cheeks.  “Ma?” 

 

            Nurses and doctors rushed in, pushing the redhead aside as they worked over his mother.  Cloud felt a heavy weight as he watched them try to revive her and watched Reno back up with an uncharacteristic look of desperation on his face. 

 

            “Come here,” Cloud murmured as the redhead stared at his mother. 

 

            Reno looked at him and for the first time, Cloud saw tears fill his eyes.

 

            “Fuck man…fuck,” the Turk gasped, curling his fingers into his hair. 

 

            “She’s gone…” one of the medical staff said.

 

            Cloud watched Reno curl into a ball and tremble.  He squeezed through the throng of people and went to his knees beside the redhead, putting his arm around him.

 

            “Don’t,” Reno growled, trying to shove him away, “Leave me the fuck alone!”

 

            “Bullshit,” Cloud murmured softly, holding the Turk tighter.  “I’m not gonna do that.”

 

                        Reno shoved at him for a few moments and cursed as they took his mother out of the room.  The nurses and doctors tried to say something but Cloud warned them to let him handle it. 

 

            “I’m sorry,” Cloud whispered, holding the struggling redhead tightly against him.

 

            “What the FUCK do you know, strife?” Reno said against his chest in a raw voice.

 

            “Not a damned thing,” Cloud admitted, not letting his companion go.  “You can’t say I never asked though.  I’m sorry, Reno.”

 

            Reno tried very hard to maintain, but the doctor stepped back in and told him that his mother was gone.  He curled up against Cloud and cried like a baby.  The blond fighter held him all night, murmuring to him and nuzzling his hair. 

 

~***********************************~

 

The End.

 

 

 

                       


End file.
